The Syracuse Mets held on to defeat the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 6-4, in front of a sold-out crowd at NBT Bank Stadium on Thursday night.
New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom made a rehab start with Syracuse and allowed an unearned run on two hits over four innings while striking out four. The right-hander threw 42 pitches and touched 100 mph several times. deGrom spoke to the media after his outing and said he is unsure when and where his next start will be. “I’m not sure. That will be the discussion we have in the following week or so,” he said.
The Mets struck first as they plated four of their six runs in the bottom of the second inning. Tzu-Wei Lin opened the scoring with a groundout to second. Terrance Gore followed that with a run-scoring single to left to make it 2-0. Then, Nick Plummer ripped one to left for an RBI single. Francisco Alvarez capped off the inning with a sacrifice fly to right.
Jacksonville scored their first run in the top of the third on a wild pitch to make it 4-1.
Syracuse added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh to increase the lead to 6-1. Mark Vientos worked a bases-loaded walk, and Khalil Lee launched a sacrifice fly to left.
The Jumbo Shrimp made things interesting in the top of the ninth against Mets closer Michel Otanez. Jerar Encarnacion sent one over the center-field to open the inning. One batter later, Peyton Burdick smacked a two-run home run over the left-field wall to make it 6-4 game. However, Otanez was able to settle down and record three consecutive outs to secure the victory.
Sam Clay, Locke St. John, Trey Cobb, and Rob Zastryzny all had scoreless outings for Syracuse.
The Mets will send Nate Fisher to the mound on Friday night as they go for their third straight victory. The first pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].